Here With Me
By Mystical Star
A Kitty-Chan Production
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing (darn it!!). However, I do own Anya Katsumi so if you plan on using her, please ask J thanks.
Author's Note: Unless you enjoy being very confused, go read Gundam Wing: Desecration before you read this. J
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Anya Katsumi had no sooner walked back into her room at Preventer H.Q. after arriving back from Quatre's than her phone rang.
"Hello, Anya Katsumi speaking."
"Miss Anya? This is Mr. Larson, your family's lawyer,"
Kat nearly dropped the phone in surprise. "How did you get this number?" She gasped.
"Lady Une contacted me. She told me that an unknown person took you away after the attack on your family. Most people here presumed that you had amnesia or something and you were wandering around since the authorities couldn't find your body," Larson said. Kat chuckled finding the people's assumptions amusing.
"So after the attack, I was told by your grandmother to hold on to your inheritance until you came back. I really wasn't sure about it, but since she was the only living relative to claim the inheritance and tell me what to do with it, I did as she asked."
"My grandmother? Obasan! Where is she?" Katsumi demanded as her heart began to race. Maybe I'm not so alone after all…
"I'm afraid she's in the hospital right now. She's had Leukemia for a while,"
"I'm coming! What colony? Where do I go?!" Kat interrogated.
"Man, you really did have amnesia, didn't you?" The attorney asked. "Colony L2-X-14829, Sacred Heart hospital. I'll meet you there so we can go over things concerning your inheritance,"
"No, I want to spend some time with my grandma before I lose her," Katsumi gulped. "Give me your phone number and I'll contact you once I'm there," She suggested.
"Alright. Here's my number," Kat pulled out a pen and paper and began to write.
Please hold on until I get there, Obasan*Two Hours Later…
Katsumi sat in a shuttle, staring out of the window and twirling the drawstrings on her blue hooded sweatshirt. She had only told those people who she saw before she left that she was leaving. In other words, only Tom, however, she did call Severina to tell her what was up. She was so happy, and yet so worried at the same time.
I'm not alone anymore. She thought as she smiled to herself. And then, the thought of her grandmother having a terminal disease such as Leukemia greatly disturbed her. I wish I would have known sooner. I wish I never had gotten that stupid injection of SIA. I hate Dr. J. The asshole. She thought.
"Attention passengers please take your seats and fasten your restraining belts. We are about to land in colony L2-X-14829. The weather is scheduled to be rainy for the rest of today with sunshine Tuesday through Friday. Highs in the upper teens** for the rest of the week as well. Have a nice stay. Thank you for flying Colonial Express. We look forward to serving you in the future." The flight attendant said cheerily.
Kat's hands began to twitch with excitement as she felt the craft land in a docking bay. She could hardly wait for the doors to open so she could get out of the shuttle and see her grandmother. Not to mention, get away from the weird man next to her who kept on asking her about the Preventers and things such as that.
As soon as the doors open and people began to move out of the craft, Kat grabbed the bag out from under her chair and bolted to go grab a taxi. "Nice talking to you, Katsumi!" The man called after her.
Kat shook her head and sighed as she kept jogging out of the shuttle and into the spaceport to find the nearest taxicab.
Back at Preventer HQ
"Hey, Kat," Duo called out as he knocked on her door. "Where is she?" Shinigami asked himself as he scratched his head in puzzlement.
"She's gone, mate," Said a voice. Duo turned around to see Tom there.
"What do you mean she's gone? Where'd she go?" Duo asked, even more confused.
"She got a call from some attorney back in her home colony. Apparently her grandma's still alive and kicking and Kat's off to see her," The young Australian explained. Duo made a face and sighed.
"Did she say what colony?" He asked.
"Somewhere in L2. She wasn't more specific than that." Tom explained. "She was probably anxious to see a living relative. Someone she remembers. Not many of us SIA victims have that luxury," he reminded his friend. Duo nodded.
"I just hope that she'll be okay. I mean, you don't suppose that the SIA could screw her up even more if she goes back to a place she remembers, could it?" Duo asked. Tom looked a little worried.
"I didn't think of that," The Aussie replied, biting his lower lip.
"Crap," Duo muttered.
"Well, she said that she did call Severina, maybe she knows," Tom suggested.
"Good idea. Do you know her number?"
"She's at Quatre's place. I'll call her," Tom said, walking down to his room to use the phone.
"I hope Kat's okay," Duo muttered to himself a she followed Tom down the hall.
Colony L2X-14829, Sacred Heart Hospital
"Could you tell me where Yuki Hakusetu is?" Katsumi asked the nurse at the lobby desk. The woman looked up at her with an odd look on her face.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, I've never seen you here. May I ask your name?"
"Katsumi Anya", Kat stumbled over her words. She'd never really gotten used to saying her name the English way. "I'm her granddaughter,"
The nurse dropped her pen. "I'm sorry, did you just say you were, her…her granddaughter?" Katsumi giggled.
"Surprised to see me?"
"Everybody thought you had died in the explosion. Well, everyone except your grandmother of course," the nurse stated. "I'll take you up to her room. Hakesetu-sama is a good friend of mine, I enjoy being her nurse."
"I see, so you've been told of the 'good old Japanese ways', eh?" Kat laughed.
That's right. Obasan was only half-Japanese, but she spoke the language fluently and always had to be called the proper name. "Obasan" by her grandchildren, "Koi" by Ojisan***, and "Hakusetu-sama" by everyone else. The young woman reminisced.
"Yes," The nurse laughed.
"I never imagined that she was Japanese when she first came here, her hair being red and all. You look a lot like her," She added. Katsumi blushed.
"Lots of people say that." She said, dismissing the comment.
"Oh, by the way, you know that your grandmother has Leukemia, right?" The nurse asked. Anya nodded solemnly.
"If we could find a match for her bone marrow, we might be able to do a transplant and save her," The nurse pointed out as they walked up a flight of stairs. Kat's eyes went wide.
"You mean, I could be a match?"
"Well, you look an awful lot like Hakesetu-sama, why shouldn't you have matching bone marrow?" The woman joked.
"I'll do it! Anything to save her," Kat said, grabbing the nurses arm. The nurse looked a little alarmed at first, but her eyes grew soft after a second or two.
"Alright. I'll have the test arranged for you. Someone will be by Hakesetu-sama's room later to take a sample. Is that okay?" The nurse suggested. Katsumi nodded as the two women stopped outside room 246. The door label said: "Hakesetu, Yuki".
"If you have any questions, you can just come down to the front desk and ask for me. My name's Annie Finch," The woman said. Katsumi smiled at her and shook her hand.
"Thanks so much for your help," She said. Annie smiled and nodded. "I'd better be going. Say hello to Hakesetu-sama for me!" She said as she left.
Kat waved after her new friend and then turned to the door. She quietly opened it so as not to disturb her grandmother if she was sleeping. She had the door halfway open when she heard a familiar voice.
"Come in, don't be shy!" It was her grandmother.
"Obasan!" Katsumi cried, bursting into the room. Of course, her grandmother looked rather different from the last time Katsumi had seen her. Yuki's once red hair was now very grayed out, although it still retained some of its reddish tint.
"Katsumi? Little Katsumi?!" The elderly woman gasped as her granddaughter came into the room, her eyes threatening to pour over with tears.
"Oh, Obasan!" Kat sobbed as she fell down at her grandmother's bedside and hugged her grandmother.
"Chibi Neko! I knew you were alive. I just new it," Yuki said, stroking her granddaughter's hair. "Where have you been all this time, my little kitten?" She asked.
"It's a long story, Obasan,"
"I have a lot of time, Katsumi,"
Meanwhile…
"Severina! Come on where is she?!" Tom growled for about the fifth time at the image on the vid-fone.
"No. I told her that no one was going to bother her!" Severina crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air.
"We're not going to bother her! We want to make sure she'll be okay! We're worried about how the SIA may affect her if she goes someplace that's familiar," Tom explained in a harried tone.
"Oh come on Tom, she's in a frigging hospital!"
"They don't know what SIA is!"
"Come on. Its amnesia at a higher level you idiot. They'll find her a bed and hook her up to machines until she wakes up."
"Oh for God's sake," Duo said from behind Tom as he shook his head and pushed Tom out of the way. Tom landed on the floor with a loud thud.
"HEY!" The young Australian protested as he landed.
"Severina, please tell us where she is," Duo pleaded in a worried voice. Severina looked at him critically, as if she was thinking. The brunette crossed her arms.
"I don't know…I promised her,"
"Please, I just want to make sure she'll be okay," The God of Death continued to plea. Severina looked at him pitifully. "I'll tell her that I looked it up on her file," he added.
The young woman looked at Duo. His eyes were full of sincerity, something that she couldn't just ignore. She sighed. "Fine. She's in colony L2X-14829 at Sacred Heart hospital. If she tells you to go away, please listen to her, she wants to be alone," Severina warned.
Duo nodded. "Thanks, Severina. We owe ya one," He said, giving her a peace sign.
"No shit you do, especially if I get in trouble with Kat!" Severina laughed as she smiled and waved.
"See ya later!" Duo said as the connection ended.
"Hey, Tom, let's get ourselves a shuttle and get outta here" Duo said, looking down on the ground where he had pushed his comrade.
"I think you should go alone. Kat would probably think we're there to spy on her or something if two of us go," Tom admitted.
"But-"
"And let's face it. She likes you," Tom said, looking up at Duo. Shinigami got an embarrassed look on his face and began to stutter, trying to make up excuses. Tom laughed.
"And you like her,"
"Now wait a minute!" Duo yelled, looking thoroughly embarrassed and blushing terribly. Tom began to laugh so hard he fell over again. "Who's giving these ideas to you!?" Duo demanded.
"You are, stupid!" Tom said amid his laughter. Duo kicked him. "Ow! Hey!" Tom yelped.
"Fine, I'll go alone, but just because I'm worried about her," Duo huffed as he walked away as fast as he could.
"Ah young love," Tom said in a mocking dreamy tone.
Back to Kat…
"Oh Chibi Neko, I'm so sorry that all happened to you," Yuki said as Kat finished her story.
"You don't have to be sorry, Obasan. It's my fault. If I only would have run…"
"Kitten, it's not your fault! I won't let you blame yourself for this," Her grandmother, stated in a defiant tone. Katsumi looked away from Yuki in shame. The young woman still blamed herself for her family's death. If I would have listened to Momma…maybe we all would have escaped and we could have been together…
"Little Katsumi, do you remember that lullaby I used to sing to you?" Yuki asked, changing the subject. Kat looked at her grandmother and though for a moment.
"A little…something about wind talking and flowers…" Kat whispered as she strained to remember.
"Oto no, nai mahiru, kaze wa tada akarui. Sukoshi, nemutasou ni, Hanabira ga yureta…" Yuki began to sing. Katsumi suddenly remembered and began to sing in English.
"I don't know, what words I can say, the wind has a way, to talk to me, flowers sleep, a silent lullaby, I pray for reply, 'I'm ready',"
"You sang that to me when Momma would go away." Kat murmured.
"Yes, and do you remember why I call you Chibi Neko?" Yuki asked. Her granddaughter laughed.
"Because my name starts with 'Kat'. Chibi Neko means little kitten," Yuki smiled and then yawned.
"Hm. I think I should get some sleep," she stated. Katsumi nodded, knowing how tired victims of Leukemia could get. Just then the door opened.
"Hakesetu-sama? Can I steal your granddaughter away for a little bit?" A nurse asked.
"Oh! That test! Obasan, I'm going to go see if my bone marrow will match yours. I'll be back in a bit," Katsumi assured her grandmother, giving her a hug.
"Alright. You be careful with my little kitten!" Yuki said to the nurse, who laughed.
The nurse led Katsumi out of the room and down the hall to an examination room. "Nobody's said anything to me about how Obasan's actually doing, how long has she had Leukemia?"
"Half of a year," The nurse answered.
"How bad is it?" Katsumi continued to ask. The young nurse looked down at the ground.
"The last time she saw a doctor, he said that he was giving her a few weeks if she didn't have a transfusion."
"WHAT?!" Kat gasped. "How…when…. why didn't anybody say anything?" She grabbed for words out of thin air. "How long will she have if I'm a match?" the Angel pilot asked.
"She could have a normal life span, up to 85 years or so," The nurse said. "But finding a match for Hakesetu-sama has been difficult. I don't know if you'll be it." She added. Katsumi's eyes flared with defiance.
"I will be. I look like her, I sound like her. I am her match,"
A few hours later…
Duo burst through the hospital doors, looking rather flustered. All of the people in the lobby looked at him with curiosity. He paid no attention to them as he marched up to the front desk.
"I'm looking for Anya Katsumi," He said to the woman at the front desk. "Do you know what room she's in?" he asked. The woman looked at him.
"Let me see if I can find her," she said as she typed something into the computer. "I don't think she's a patient here, she's visiting her Grandma," Duo said.
"What's the name?"
Duo suddenly felt rather stupid. "Uh, maybe Anya?" The lady typed the name in and the computer beeped back.
"Sorry, no one by that name in this hospital," The woman said.
"I know she's here, her granddaughter's name is Anya Katsumi. Rusty colored hair, blue eyes," Duo began to describe Kat, hoping to spark a memory.
"Half Japanese?" He offered.
"OH! I know who you're talking about! That kid looks just like Hakesetu-sama, she's in room two-forty-six, on the second floor." The woman said, laughing.
"Thanks!" Duo said as he turned towards the stairs. He walked up as quickly as he could without running. As he reached the last stair, he looked down the hall a little ways where he saw Katsumi, closing a door to one of the rooms.
"Kat!" He cried, sprinting down the hall.
"Duo?!"
"Kat!" Duo repeated as he slammed into Katsumi and held her tightly. "Duo? What's going on?"
"I was worried about you! We thought coming back to a place you remembered might have messed with the SIA recovery," Shinigami said, gasping for air.
"Duo, I'm fine, really. No headaches, fevers, seizures, nothing. I'm just visiting my Obasan,"
"Who?" Duo asked, breaking the embrace. Kat laughed.
"Obasan. My Grandmother. Our family was really Japanese; we spoke a lot of the language so we called our grandparents by their proper Japanese names. Grandmother is Obasan, grandpa is Ojisan."
Duo nodded. "She in there?" He asked, regarding the door.
"Sleeping. She's got Leukemia. I'm waiting for test results to see if I'm a match for her bone marrow." Kat said calmly. Duo was puzzled.
"You don't seem the least bit worried." He noticed.
"That's because I know I'm the match. I look like her and sound like her. My mom used to say that I was a miniature version of Obasan, I have to be the match," Katsumi said confidently. Duo scratched his head, hoping she wasn't setting herself up for heartbreak.
"I don't mean to pry, but how long does she have if you're not the match?" He asked. Kat looked down at the ground and away from Duo, wanting not to think about it.
"The doctor said a few weeks," She muttered. The young American man bit his lip and didn't say anything. "But I'm her match, so it's no problem," She said, shooing away the bad thoughts. Duo smiled at her, hoping she was right.
"Katsumi?" A voice came from behind them. Kat turned around to see her friend, Annie, standing there with a clipboard. "It's the results from your test, they wanted me to give them to you," she added.
"So, I passed, right?" Kat asked, looking cheery. Annie sighed.
"No, Katsumi, your not Hakesetu-sama's match…I'm sorry," She said. Duo looked at his friend. Kat's eyes were vacant, it looked as though she'd just been shot or stabbed.
"Kat," Duo said softly.
"You're wrong!" Kat snapped suddenly. "I have to be her match! I just have to be! I look like her, I sound like her, and I act like her! Why can't my blood be the same?! Why?!" Kat cried out. Duo took her in his arms for comfort as she began to cry.
"All of the people who could be her match…" Annie started to say but was cut off.
"Are dead!" Kat snapped angrily, still crying into Duo's chest. "They're dead because I didn't run!" She said. Duo could feel her sobs becoming more and more violent as he held her.
"It's not your fault, Kat," He tried to console her. "Yes it is! You don't know, Duo, you just don't know!" She said as she sunk to the ground, Duo sinking with her.
"Yes I do, Kat," He whispered, putting his head to hers. "I know exactly how you feel," He added as he brushed the hair out of her face. He saw her tears and brushed them away too.
Annie saw this and figured that the two needed time alone, so she walked away.
Kat took Duo's hand after he had brushed her tears away and held it. "I'll be alone now, really alone," She whispered. Duo didn't quite know what to say. He just held her closer to him, hoping to offer some comfort as they sat there on the hospital floor.
A week later…
Kat's grandmother had gotten worse over the seven days that she had been there. Duo had stayed with Kat at her old house, which her grandmother had been living in before she got sick. It was Friday again, and late morning. Kat had just walked out of her room having gotten dressed after her shower. Her hair was still rather damp. She emerged from her room to see Duo standing just over the landing of the stairs, looking at pictures. Kat walked up behind him.
"That's all of us at a picnic, it was after Taro was born," She said, regarding the picture with fond memories. Duo looked back at her, a little surprised to see her there.
"You guys look really happy," He said.
"It was one of my favorite days when Mom was home," Kat said. Duo smiled at her.
"She'd push me on the swings and catch me when I jumped off in mid-air. She'd slide down the slide with me when I was younger so I wouldn't be scared," The young woman said, closing her eyes to remember.
"Sometimes, if I listen carefully, I can hear her laughing with me," She whispered.
Suddenly, the phone rang, jogging Kat from her daydream. "Somehow, I don't think that's what it sounded like," Duo joked. Kat laughed as she picked up the phone.
"Anya residence. Yes, this is she," Kat said. Duo watched her face suddenly grow very worried.
"What? Oh God, I'll be right there," Duo saw the urgency in Kat's eyes as she began to fidget with the phone cord.
"Yeah, thanks," She said as she hung up. "I have to go to the hospital, Obasan stopped breathing about ten minutes ago. The resuscitated her, but they don't think she has long," Kat choked on her words as she dashed down the stairs. Duo ran after her.
"Wait! I'll take you!" He called after her.
"I have a driver's license you know," Kat said, grabbing the car keys off of the nail next to the garage door.
"You're preoccupied, I don't want you driving like a maniac to get us to the hospital,"
"Well then what do you call your driving?"
"Mildly safe driving,"
"HA!" Kat said, handing the keys over to Duo and shaking her head as she followed him out to the garage. The two hopped in the car and started off towards the hospital.
"They better not have called that asshole of a lawyer." She said, looking out of the window as Duo sped down the street.
The lawyer who had originally called Katsumi back and Preventer HQ had shown up at the hospital one day while Duo and Kat were visiting. He wanted to discuss Kat's inheritance in the event of her grandmother's death. Kat did not want to talk about it. "It's not right to talk about this while she's still alive! I don't care right now!" Duo had heard her yell at him.
In practically no time, they were at the hospital. Duo dropped Kat off at the front doors while he went to park. Kat burst into the hospital and up the stairs, running into an intern who was carrying a stack of papers.
"Sorry!" She called as she ran up the stairs as fast as she could. Annie was outside Yuki's room, apparently waiting for Kat.
"Where is she?" The young woman demanded of the nurse. Annie opened the door to reveal Katsumi's grandmother, hooked up to an oxygen machine and various other life-saving devices that apparently were not helping.
"She said that she wanted to see you, she said she wouldn't d-die until you came," Annie said with tears running down her face. Kat didn't say anything as she dashed into her grandmother's room and fell down at the bedside.
"Chibi Neko…" Yuki said, her voice barely there.
"Obasan, please," Kat pleaded. "Don't leave me," she began to cry. The elderly lady looked over at her granddaughter and smiled.
"Kitten, remember my lullaby?" She asked. Kat nodded and smiled, despite her tears.
"Shall I sing it for you?" Katsumi asked, taking hold of her grandmother's hand. Yuki smiled. "That would be sugoi," she whispered, using the Japanese word for "wonderful". Kat gulped down the lump in her throat and began to sing her grandmother's song in its original language.
"Oto no, nai mahiru,
kaze wa tada akarui.
Sukoshi, nemutasou ni,
Hanabira ga yureta
"Nani ge nai kono omoi
Nee, hito wa donna kotoba de
Yondeiru no…"
Yuki's eyes began to close as Katsumi finished singing. "Obasan?"
"Kirei…"* Yuki said as she breathed her last. Kat's eyes grew wide.
"No," She gasped as she felt her grandmother's had grow limp in hers. Just then Duo came in, he took one look at the scene and his shoulders slumped. He'd only known Yuki for a week, but it was more than just disappointing to loose her.
Kat lowered her forehead until it touched her grandmother's cold hand and she started to sob.
"I'm all alone…. all alone" She cried. Duo went to her side and put his arm around her shoulder.
To Be Continued…Notes
*Japanese for "Grandmother".
**I figured that the colonies probably used Celsius, so I went and looked it up. The upper teens in Celsius would be like 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
***Japanese for "Grandfather"
*Japanese for "beautiful"
The lullaby that Katsumi and her grandmother sing is Melfina's song from Outlaw Star.